10 SIMPLE WAYS TO BEAT PROCRASTINATION

Waste a bit of time reading this article and you’ll never waste time ever again… Stop feeling guilty everyone – it turns out that students are hard-wired to procrastinate.

Now that you don’t have to be angry at yourself for ignoring all the essay writing and revision you have to do, why not embrace distraction and spend a bit of time reading about our ten simple ways to beat procrastination.

In fact, you could argue that reading about procrastination is bordering on being productive…

1) Work in shifts

Commit to small chunks of getting your head down – set an alarm after 30 mins for a 15 minute break (and so on and so on). If you know you’ve got a break coming up, then your urge to take your eye off the ball will be lessened.

2) Employ a procrastination monitor

Ask your friends/family/housemates to shout and nag every time you step out of line – though do be careful not to choose someone who is as easily distracted as you.

3) Remove temptation

TV, food, Facebook – the holy trinity of student distraction. The simple solution is to do your work somewhere in which these things are unavailable. For the more hardcore of you, you can even download internet blocking apps such as Anti-Social.

4) The early bird… does some work

If you wake up so early that the rest of the world is still unconscious, there will naturally be fewer distractions. Daytime TV is boring. No one is on Facebook. Plus there are few better feelings that having productive mornings.

5) Write a daily check list

If you set specific goals throughout the day then you’ll know where you’re at at all times and your work will suddenly look much more achievable, decreasing your urge not to do it.

6) Create a playlist

Make a playlist of motivational (though not distracting) songs to soundtrack your work and you’ll forget all about distractions. Our personal favourite… the Jurassic Park theme.

7) Catch some Zs

You’ve probably heard it all before, but there’s a reason for that. Grabbing your eight hours (give or take) of sleep each night can work wonders for your energy levels. Procrastination may be hard-wired in us, but it’s not helped by feeling tired. Sleep hard, work hard.

8) Do the hardest things first

The urge to procrastinate can often originate from the fear of not being able to do something. If there’s something you’re purposefully putting off, do it first. Invariably it won’t be as bad as you expect, and then rest will seem like a walk in the proverbial park.

9) Man up

Though Dr Piers Steel claims that people in their 20s are physiologically less capable of willpower, if you really need to do something, you’ll do it. Get your head down, do the work, then you can waste as much time as you like.

10) Forgive yourself

Nobody’s perfect. If you find that your head is turned for 20 minutes then so be it, that alone probably won’t be the cause of you failing. As long as you don’t fool yourself, a break from time to time is more than acceptable.